By snoadmin
The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team began Big West play this weekend at The Walter Pyramid, and after two five game matches The Beach started conference play with a 1-1 record.
The Beach beat UC Santa Barbara 19-30, 30-26, 30-27, 23-30 and 15-12 Friday, but No. 20 Cal Poly handed LBSU its first conference loss of the season Saturday wining 30-20, 30-19, 20-30, 35-37 and 17-15.
The conference opener was a meeting between the two teams that shared the Big West title in 2005.
UCSB started strong and scored six consecutive points late in game one to take a commanding 29-18 lead.
Game two was tight the whole way through with neither team leading by more than four points.
A kill by Alexis Crimes off of a Nicole Vargas set gave LBSU a 17-14 lead. UCSB rallied to tie the score at 17 and forced an LBSU timeout. On the next point, a furious back-and-forth volley capitalized by a Hasalikova kill ignited the crowd and gave The Beach an 18-17 lead.
Naomi Washington and Quincy Verdin had kills down the stretch to win game two for The Beach.
Game three was another nail-biter featuring four lead changes and neither team taking more than a three-point advantage.
With the game tied at 26, a Miramontes kill gave LBSU the lead for good. Verdin followed with a kill of her own, giving The Beach a two-point lead. Game three ended on a wide shot by UCSB.
With their backs against the wall in game four, UCSB jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. The Gauchos continued to play well throughout the game and led by as much as 10 points.
LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro shuffled his lineup and checked Heather Hetzer into the game. Hetzer responded immediately with a kill cutting the Gaucho lead to 24-16. But UCSB was too much for The Beach and won the game by seven points.
A “Let’s Go Long Beach” chant from the boisterous crowd started the final game. The Gauchos took a 10-8 lead in the game, but consecutive kills by Crimes and Hetzer tied the score at 10. Crimes and Hetzer then teamed up for a block to give LBSU the first lead of the game.
Unwilling to quit, the Gauchos tied the score at 11. Crimes gave the lead back to The Beach with a kill. Three points later, Verdin ended the match with a kill to give LBSU its first conference win of the season.
According to Gimmillaro, inserting Lawlor and Hetzer into the match during game four was key in the win.
“Dyanne [Lawlor] saved us. Dyanne gave Nicole [Vargas] the break she needed and played well and Heather [Hetzer] probably won the match for us. You never know who wins the match and if it wasn’t for Heather we wouldn’t have won,” Gimmillaro said.
Crimes and Hasalikova led the team with 21 kills apiece. Vargas posted a double-double with 61 sets and 13 digs.
In Saturday’s match, Cal Poly lived up to its national ranking, dominating LBSU in games one and two. The Mustangs built up double-digit leads and cruised to a 2-0 game lead.
The Mustangs looked primed for a sweep over LBSU, which Cal Poly did to LBSU at The Pyramid last year. But The Beach stormed back to take games three and four to force the second five-game match in two days.
The Beach took an early 3-0 lead in the deciding game. Later on, Talaya Whitfield sent a screaming shot that the Cal Poly defenders could not handle, giving The Beach an 8-5 lead.
Cal Poly then rallied and tied the score at 10. A Crimes kill gave The Beach a one-point advantage but Cal Poly answered with a kill of its own and tie the score again.
The points continued to go back and forth, and LBSU did had a chance to win the match when they had match point at 14-13.
Off a Vargas set, Whitfield leapt into the air to spike home the game-winner but her shot was blocked by Cal Poly defenders.
Fittingly, the game and match ended on a Cal Poly block. The Mustangs dominated the net, posting 40 blocks to The Beach’s 14.
Hasalikova led the team in kills for the second consecutive game with 18. Crimes and Lawlor had 16 and 14 kills. Vargas posted another double-double with 69 sets and 13 digs. Whitfield led the team with a career-high 22 digs.
